Joseph Michael Meade (1839 – 14 July 1900) was an Irish businessman and politician.

Biography

He was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, son of Michael Meade of

Great Brunswick Street Pearse Street () is a major street in Dublin. It runs from College Street in the west to MacMahon Bridge in the east, and is one of the city's longest streets. It has several different types of residential and commercial property along its le ...

, a Catholic and founder of the building and contracting firm of Meade, Michael & Son. Joseph entered the family firm and on his father's death in 1866, and took over as head and greatly expanded it. He eventually employed 900 men and was contracted for major projects. He was the chairman of numerous boards including the Hibernian Bank and the Globe insurance company, he used his wealth and position to enhance his civic standing. In 1886 he was elected to

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660–1661, even more si ...

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for Trinity ward, a position he held until his death, and in 1889 he was made Sheriff of Dublin City. A staunch nationalist, he contributed financially to the

Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...

and after the split in 1890, he remained a supporter of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

. He was elected

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

in 1891, and re-elected the following year – his princely hospitality in the Mansion House was apparently responsible for his popularity. In the 1892 general election he stood as an

Irish National League The Irish National League (INL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded on 17 October 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell as the successor to the Irish National Land League after this was suppressed. Whereas the Land League ...

candidate for Stephen's Green constituency and was narrowly defeated by 15 votes by the liberal unionist William Kenny. It was his first and last attempt for a seat in parliament. He died at his home in Dublin on 14 July 1900 and is buried in

Glasnevin Cemetery Glasnevin Cemetery () is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum. Location The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two part ...

. He was survived by his second wife, Ada Willis. At Meade's death, his property – the bulk of which was in tenements – was valued at £60,000. Nine tenement houses which he owned in Henrietta Street were then auctioned; (including 14 Henrietta Street) these alone had provided him with a gross annual rental of £1,500. In twentieth-century history books he is chiefly remembered as a notorious

slum landlord A slumlord (or slum landlord) is a slang term for a landlord, generally an absentee landlord with more than one property, who attempts to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, and usually rents to tenants that they can ...

and despoiler of Georgian Dublin; he stripped out original features in the houses he owned and subdivided them. However, he enjoyed a good reputation during his lifetime; his obituaries testify to his geniality, his common sense, and his ability to make friends across the political divide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meade, Joseph Michael 1839 births 1900 deaths Lord mayors of Dublin Politicians from Dublin (city) Businesspeople from Dublin (city) Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery High sheriffs of Dublin City Irish Nationalist politicians